What is a customer (or guest)
A very nice quote to put on the wall somewhere in your backstage. And yes, ofcourse you'll change the word customer in guest !
A customer is the most important visitor on our premises.
He is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him.
He is not an interruption of our work. He is the purpose of it.
He is not an outsider of our business. He is part of it.
We are not doing him a favour by serving him.
He is doing us a favour by giving us the opportunity to do so
Mahatma Ghandi (in a speech in South Africa in 1890)
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B = C x O x M
Most readers know that I like reading about scientific research, but a lot of knowledge can be explained very easy. Today we have the formula
Behaviour = capacity x opportunity x motivation
- Behaviour is what people do, or what you want them to do
- Capacity is what people can do. You can give trainings for that. But never forget that you also have to work on the other two factors in the model!
- Opportunity is what people are able to do. The management has to create enough (human!) resources, good conditions, tools and materials to make the work possible
- Motivation is what people want to do. I start to believe that most people are motivated, but are demotivated by the management. Motivation can be stimulated, however by (1) making clear what’s in it for them, (2) being involved, (3) providing rewards, (4) giving feedback and (5) stepping into the other person’s shoes.(*)
The formula is originally from Lilian Ripple (Chicago) in her 1955 paper “Motivation, Capacity, and Opportunity as Related to the Use of Casework Service: Theoretical Base and Plan of Study.” . The image is taken here.
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100 skills every Crazy Waiter should know (part 1)
Inspired by this list our own list! Take it as serious as you think it should be! How many points do you have?
- Holding 3 plates with food in 1 hand and one in the other (1 point)
- Taking orders in 3 langues (1 point)
- Taking orders in 4,5 or 6 languages (2, 3 or 4 points)
- Handling complaints (2 points)
- Inventing your own lyrics on existing songs (1 point)
- Singing a song with a random word (1 point)
- Flirting with beautiful young (not too young though) Italian girls (1 point)
- Flirting with ugly old woman (3 points)
- Pre-bussying (clearing) a whole table of four in one time (2 points)
- Stop young children who cry and if possible make them smile every time you pass (2 points)
- Opening a wine bottle with a opener (1 points)
- Changing a beerfust (1 point)
- Serving the plates together with a collegue in a synchronized way (2 points)
- Make a Margherita (2 points)
- Knowing the difference between the production of red and white wine (1 points)
- Knowing the difference between sparkling and not sparking wine (2 points)
- Influencing the hostess, so you get the best tables (1 points)
- Influencing the hostess so you won't get the latest tables so you can see your 'girl friend' (2 points)
- Debrassing 10 plates in one time (2 points)
- Cleaning invisible the knives while they are already on the table (2 points)
(the other 80 skills will follow in part 2, 3 4 and 5)
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La vista
A foreseen problem is a problem less
One of the targets in our work is to foresee problems at the moment that they aren't there already. To do so, there are (at least) two techniques which you might already use and makes the difference between a bad waiter and a good waiter. I also teach them to trainees who are eager to learn. Instead of speaking of technique, try to see it as a game to make it more fun.
The first one is that you see in one single second if everything is all right at a table and in the restaurant. This is called La Vista by John Vincke, a dutch maître-d'hôtel who died in 2007. In fact you take a global glance and you see what happens on a specific table, a station or in the room.
Related to this, the second game is that you have in your head in which phase the tables in the restaurant are, how many people they are, what they ordered etc. The guests at table 1 are eating main course, those at table 2 are waiting for the dessert, the german people at table 3 is have received the bill and are waiting to pay etc. Sometimes I ask the trainee backstage to close his eyes and tell me in which stadium the tables are. It's difficult in the beginning but practice makes perfect!
The greatest kick of both 'games' is when you act in a way that the guests don't have to ask for something. Not easy but a nice challenge!
(PS: The original quote is "Un problème prévu est un problème en moins" / M. Dantec)
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Remarkable CrazyWaiter… part 2
Also this year your CrazyWaiter is one the employees who are cited the most as remarkable. (I believe ca. 60 certificates out of >5.000 employees, 2 in every restaurant.) It's always nice and inspiring to get some appreciation, even when it's for the second time. It shows that you're doing something well...
Although I hope there will be a hattick (also one of the most cited for the third time next year), I won't be sad when another colleague will get this honour next year because there are so many nice, friendly and good waiters in my workplace. (no names... you know who you are
Serving twice
The tables are seated twice in the restaurant where I work, some tables even three times. This is for me one of the hardest part of the job. In the time I learnt some tricks how to make it easier for myself thus improving the quality. Of course I'll be happy to share these tricks with you:

- Pre-bussing (taking empty glasses, bottles and cuttery away) the table (without giving the feeling that the guest has to leave) is essential!
- You spend most time in the chain emptying the table -> going to kitchen -> emptying your tray -> going back -> redressing the table with middle three steps. So I try to empty as many tables as possible at the same time to save time.
- The hardest moment is when there are guests who leave and want to pay and new guests arrive and want to give their order. My manager and hotesse won't be happy to read this but the easiest way to avoid is to wait with redressing the tables untill your station is completely empty (or the guests left don't have to pay in the first couple of minutes). Of course you stay active and try to empty the tables and put the material on the table (so if they really need it, it's easy for the hostess to redress it) but this secret method saves a lot of stress. In my opinion being flatseated is more efficient (you take all the orders at the same time) than doing 2 payments and 2 orders mixed. I realize that the guests have to wait longer for their table but I prefer that above confronting them with a freaked out CrazyWaiter!
- Even if the table isn't ready for the guests, I try to take care that there is already bread, spoons and glasses on the table. Our collegues seat the people as long as there are two knives, two forks and a napkin on the table but missing items as mentioned cause a lot of stress because the guest will ask for it. Pan and cuchara are the first Spanish words I learned for this reason!
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Handling complaints for CrazyWaiters
This blogpost on the very interesting blog of Steve Curtin made me realize what I already knew secretly: Most people don't complain because they like to complain, want reduction or to try make your life difficult. Instead of that 95% of the complaints are because the guest experiences something different than what (s)he expected on the basis of the price they pay, the image of the restaurant or what (s)he has heard or read on the internet. In fact this is the very basis of all ServQual models. A well know formula is Quality = Perceived Service - Expectations.
If you keep this in mind, it's much easier to handle complaints and to solve them. Let me remind you of some basic (well-known) rules
- Don't take it personal and don't be too defensive
- Paraphrase (repeat in other words) to see whether you have a full understanding of the problem
- Show comprehension:'I understand that you..'. Use the I-form as much as possible to show that you feel responsibility to solve the problem. Apologize if applicable
- Ask what the guests expected/expects or wants. Often this little question (what do you expect me to do) is the beginning of the guest's satisfaction
- Solve it yourself! If you receive the plaint, it's yours and your responsibilty to solve it. Of course you can give the problem to another person (a collegue if you don't have time or your manager if it's beyond your limits) but it stays your responsibility and checkback if everything is allright at the end
- Use the complaint as input for improvements in your service, food or procedures
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Any time!
How difficult can life be? I saw this at the Champs Elysees in Paris and I knew my motto. "Service. Toute heure. Any time".
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Steakfrit
The CrazyWaiter spent his well-earned weekend in Brussels. He ate in three restaurants but was surprised by Steakfrit'. There's no need to do always fancy things in life, sometimes you have to keep it stupid simple but do it f#cking fabulous. The menu is with traditional belgian dishes for very reasonable prices especially in Brussel where the brasseries ask higher prices in general.
The most popular plate (ordered by 70% of the guests) is of course the steak: Angus primebeef, specially imported from Ireland. The steak is a cut of the finest and tastiest part: the Sirloin and tasted very well. It's accompanied with belgian frites, stoemp (mashed patatoes with vegetables) and a salade.
The service by Morgane and her coworkers of Steakfrit' Grand Place was great (BTW I loved their shirts) and one of the many things that made this restaurant special was the unlimited refill ('la repasse') with the steak, frites and/or stoemp. This is not usual and makes that you always eat warm food. (and let's be honest, it costs a little seen the fact that only 20% takes something extra but it gives a great hospitality and 'value for money' feeling for your guests). Other remarkable choice of the restaurant is the fact that they only serve three wines to keep life simple: red, rosé and white for one price €18 for a bottle, also very reasonable. Also pretty unusual is the fact that kids up to 8 years dine for free and up to 12 for 50% of the price.
Last but not least : my former qualitymanager-heart started to beat a bit faster when I saw that they gave a questionnaire with the bill. Not too extensive (if I remember well only three questions: what was good, what wasn't good, do you have suggestions) but it shows again the focus on quality by Steakfrit' ! It looked like a make-easy-money-tourist trap, but it was GREAT!
If you understand Dutch it's worth looking at the videos Foodinspiration.be has taken about Steakfrit. (page 3)
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Hand Wash
A 14 year old boy died after eating two hamburgers at Quick (comparable to McDonalds) in the south of France. This was a big shock for me because people in this age aren't that vulnerable compared to elderly, pregnant women and kids. They are still investigating how this could have happened, but it' pretty sure that there's a link between the hygiene in the restaurant and the death of the boy.
This made me aware of the fact that we as waiter are also responsible for e-ve-ry-thing the guest puts in his mouth. A lot of this is touched by us, thus it's very important to wash our hands well regularly. In this video it's shown how!







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